Pieces of Us
by Bedelia
Summary: Flash fanfic written for thimbles' weekly challenges. Various pairings and characters. Most likely AU, but possibly some AH as well.
1. Chapter 1

_**Pairing/Character(s): **Emmett/Rosalie  
**Prompt:** i - dot - imgur - dot - com/vWrmDUt - dot - jpg__  
_

* * *

The fifty-sixth time, she was wearing that stupid brown wig.

Alice bought it for her when she felt like a change. Yeah, _thanks_, Alice. I thought the damn thing looked like a dead cat, but I wasn't about to tell Rose. I'm not an idiot.

So, anyway, there I was with another ring in my pocket, waiting for my wife to stop wearing a cat on her head. For once, I didn't know how to propose. I'd already done dozens of big ones: hot air balloon, flash mob, the cliche of half-time, and so on.

To be honest, all of the weddings are my fault. I just can't stop asking her.

She leaned against my chest, fitting there the way she always does, and just like that, the words wouldn't stay locked up. It was like seeing her when I woke up to this life: sharper than need, more natural than breath. On bended knee, I asked her to marry me. Again. Leaping into my arms, she gave me her answer.

I'll never get tired of hearing her say yes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pairing/Character(s):** Alice  
**Prompt:** i - dot - imgur -dot - com/nByUsBf - dot - jpg

* * *

Fuzzy, antiseptic-soaked days are all the same here, one moment bleeding into the next. Without realizing how she came to be in this room, Alice lets her hand fly across a water-stained sheet of paper. A pretty girl with flowers in her hair materializes beneath her stub of charcoal. Alice thinks she has seen this picture many times before. Something blocks her memory when she tries to reach back, filling her mouth with the taste of metal.

"That's lovely, Mary Alice," her friend says.

"Thank you." Returning his smile, she taps his cold left fist. "You're holding a chess piece today. A white bishop."

His hand opens. "Correct."

Blackness descends—the blackness of open closets in a child's bedroom. Alice wants to hide under the quilt from the monsters within, but strong arms carry her into the night.

"I'm so sorry," her friend says. "There's no other way. He'll drain you."

With a tear of his teeth, he writes love on her neck. Pain threatens to burn away her scraps of memory, but she feels him tuck the flowers into what remains of her hair. For now, she knows. She remembers.

The girl on the page was her.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Prompt: **i - dot - imgur - dot - com/diNVcGv - dot - jpg_

_**Pairing/Character(s):** I didn't have any Twilight characters in mind when I wrote this (look, Ma, all human!), but let's say Bella/Rosalie. Also, no flashfic from me next week, since this one won, so I get to provide the prompt! You all should get over to fanficflashfic - dot - blogspot - dot - com on Thursday and let me judge you. ;)_

* * *

We were superheroes in black bikinis. With night-chilled grass under our feet, we crept into her neighbor's yard and commandeered his pool. The water felt like it belonged in December, but we didn't care. Giggling shrieks died in our throats as we danced on tiptoes and dared each other to go under.

She always went first, yanking me along for the ride. Before I could catch my breath from the icy shock, her lips found mine. Wrapping my arms around her, I forgot I'd ever been cold.

Tree branches cradled us as we dried, swathed in terry cloth almost as rough as their bark. I whispered secrets I didn't want even the leaves to overhear. She greeted every skeleton from my closet with a smile.

When the sun rose, we collapsed on her bed, bruised and dizzy and laughing, like the way I loved her. Sleep found us in the breaths between kisses—in the heartbeat between the first day of summer and the last.

Back then, I thought she could fly. I thought we were invincible. Clues rained down, but my chlorine-stung eyes saw the sun.

I didn't know she was drowning.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Prompt: _**_youtube - dot - com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3-ChFUD5OKY_

_**Pairing:**__ Renesmee/Claire_

* * *

We cut our teeth on their hearts. Hiding in blanket forts and tree houses, we giggled and schemed. Our wolves would be anything we wanted—our very own pair of grownup puppets, dancing to our whims.

Now they stand before us, their faces unchanged by time. Jacob stares at the place where my fingers link together with Claire's. My voice freezes with my breath, hands itching to let my power do the talking for me.

"We're in love," Claire says, meeting Quil's gaze with her shoulders straight. "Have been for a long time."

"Ness?" the ghost of my Jacob says.

I nod. "The imprint makes you be whatever we need, right? Well, we need you to be our friends. Just that, nothing more. No one asked us if we wanted…"

Trailing off, I swallow the unfair words. No one asked them, either.

Claire gives my fingers a squeeze. Time to cut the strings. Time to let go.

We don't say we're sorry. Hand-in-hand, we run away from the devotion everyone claimed we'd never be able to refuse.

Neither of us look back.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Pairing/Character(s):** Bella/Edward_  
_**Prompt:** i - dot - imgur - dot - com/rI4Gfko - dot - jpg _

* * *

I was ten years old before I realized no one else could see them.

As I wheeled my bike down Main Street with a boy who was _maybe_ not as bad as the other boys my age, I tilted my head back and breathed in deep. My parents had ordered me to be home before dark, but I was in no hurry. The consequences could wait. Twinkling branches swayed back and forth overhead, beckoning like old friends. The air was at that perfect, crisp temperature—just cold enough to make cheeks rosy and cocoa seem warmer.

"I love how the lights look at this time of year," I said.

Pausing, the boy frowned. "What are you talking about? That's how they always look."

"Nuh uh. In spring, they're sort of pink, and in summer…"

I stopped. His gaze was focused on two emotionless lamps that stood guard on a brick wall.

"Don't you see the lights in the trees?" I asked.

"Huh? Did you hit your head?"

It was like discovering what I saw as red was beige to the eyes of others. Shrugging it off, I rushed home.

To this day, I still don't know.

What _are_ they?


	6. Chapter 6

_**Pairing/Character(s):**__ Bella/Edward_  
_**Prompt:**__ youtube - dot - com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5kH0OEJxUlE_

* * *

Velma. Like the girl from _Scooby Doo_. That's what he calls me now.

Whatever. It sort of fits, and Velma was cool. Don't try to pretend she wasn't.

It's not like I _love_ him. I gave that up when I got the Call. I can kind of understand why he says those things about me. Best friends, and I cut him out of my life with no warning. It was a job requirement, but he doesn't know that.

It also hurt like hell.

And okay, maybe I do still have a few feelings I didn't manage to squash, because when I see shadows creeping along dusty linoleum, heading straight for him as he leaves a late play rehearsal, I don't think about my mask—about concealing my identity. I draw my knife and lunge and stab and kill them all.

I can't let him be hurt. Not by anyone but me, I guess.

"Bella?" he says, gasping and trembling. "What—"

"Follow me," I say, taking his hand for the first time in four years. It still fits, but I can't think about that. We need to run. More will come when they hear the death cry. "I'll keep you safe."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Pairing/Character(s):**__ Bella/Edward_  
_**Prompt:**__ "Oceans" by Pearl Jam_

* * *

The only traffic light in our town flashes red, courtesy of some kids who push the button for the crosswalk. Not even the joggers and speed-walking old ladies are out this early. Letting the truck roll to a stop, Edward glares at the giggling teenagers. They don't cross.

"You're really doing this," he says.

"Yeah."

Going to the beach with him one last time was a mistake. If I'm honest, I knew it at the time. His hands just made me forget for a while. When I kissed him like I meant it, I made him think I would stay.

I did mean it, though. With him, sometimes I mean it so hard it hurts. If I let him, I know he'd turn me into one of those people who never escapes this place.

As the sun climbs higher and the road carries us closer to the airport, the ocean winks at us between trees.

"I'll come back. Someday. I just need to experience something bigger."

He smiles, and oh, God. What could be bigger than _us_?

"I know. Go see your bright lights."

One touch of his hand, and suddenly I know, too. This isn't the end.


End file.
